Ogden News

WKU’s Habitat for Humanity campus chapter will be sending three volunteer groups to Arkansas, South Carolina and eastern Kentucky for spring break trips next week.

The WKU groups will travel to Benton, Ark.; Sumter, S.C.; and Morehead, Ky., to assist the local Habitat for Humanity Affiliates in those areas with various projects as part of Habitat’s Collegiate Challenge.

On the trips the students will pick up wherever the affiliates to need assistance. This could be anything from putting down flooring to standing walls to putting on roofing or siding and anything in-between. Some of the affiliates are concentrating on new building and some affiliates will be focusing on rehabilitating homes. The affiliate in Morehead is working on rebuilding homes and hope after the tornadoes that ripped through that potion of the state last year.

Collegiate Challenge is an alternative break trip program run through Habitat for Humanity’s Youth Programs and volunteer mobilization department. The program offers students an opportunity to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity affiliates from across the country during breaks in their academic year.

The program works to build houses and hope in communities. Students learn a great deal about building, issues of substandard housing, working and living within a community, cultural differences in different parts of the country and most of all themselves as a result of the program.

The members going on the trips include:

• Benton, Ark.: Bryan Reaka, faculty member in the Department of Architectural and Manufacturing Sciences; Jordan Oblering, a senior investigative biotechnology and biochemistry major from Oceanside, Calif.; Julie Crone, a junior Spanish major from Owensboro; Emma McAvoy, a sophomore undeclared major from Richmond; Nicole Hirschler, a sophomore health care administration major from Granger, Ind.; Andrew Frits, a junior architectural sciences major from Rockford, Ill.; Hailey Patrick, a sophomore communication disorders major from Stillman Valley, Ill.; Alaina Mikulcik, a senior biology major from Murray; Mary Redding, a campus minister from Howardstown; Ben Phillips, a junior agriculture major from Henderson.
• Sumter, S.C.: Susan Redick, faculty member in the School of Nursing; Jason Klein, a sophomore construction management major from Russellville; Jeffry Edwards, a junior architectural sciences major from Murray; Christina Atkins, a freshman agriculture major from Scottsville; Joe Young, a junior construction management major from Scottsville; Laura Arnold, a junior biochemistry major from Bowling Green; Alex Sherfield, a junior family and consumer sciences major from Mayfield; Lauren Cox, a sophomore biology and mathematics major from Fort Knox; Cassey Jessup, a junior learning and behavior disorders major from Cadiz; Diasie Huyghue, a sophomore pre-medicine major from Cadiz.
• Morehead, Ky.: Missy Graehler, a sophomore social work major from Lexington; Adam Wilck, a junior architectural sciences major from Franklin, Tenn.; Sawyer Smith, a freshman photojournalism major from Louisville; Father Mike Williams, a campus minister from Cynthiana; Maggie Smith, a junior health science major from Lebanon; Zachary Coots, a junior mechanical engineering major from Bardstown; Jessica Graehler, a senior elementary education major from Lexington; Ethan Farabee, a senior economics major from Shelbyville.

Contact: Bryan Reaka, (270) 745-7032.